Great Scene: “Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”
It’s one of my five favorite movies: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written by Stanley Kubrick & Terry Southern & Peter George, based on the book “Red Alert” by Peter George, and featuring terrific performances by George C. Scott as General ‘Buck’ Turgidson, and Peter Sellers in three roles — Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove — it is arguably the best political satire ever filmed.
There are any number of memorable scenes in the movie, but I picked the one sometimes called “Nuclear Rodeo.” Here is an IMDB plot summary:
U.S. President Merkin Muffley is on the hot line to Moscow with some rather embarrassing news for the Soviet premier: “Hello, Dimitri….I’m fine….Now then, you know how we’ve always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the bomb….The bomb, Dimitri. The hydrogen bomb….Well, now, what happened is that, uh, one of our base commanders…he went a little funny in the head….and he went and did a silly thing….He ordered his planes to attack your country.” A comedy about an accidental nuclear attack? One that ends with total annihilation, thermonuclear apocalypse? Preposterous! Stanley Kubrick thought otherwise. In the end his thinking prevailed. The mad saga revolves around a psychotic Strategic Air Command officer, Gen. Jack D. Ripper, who lets loose his B-52 bomber squadron on the Soviet Union. Ripper takes this unilateral action because of his paranoid belief that Communists are sapping and contaminating “all our precious bodily fluids” as part of their plan to take over the world.” Unbeknownst to Ripper, his attack will trigger the Russian’s ultimate weapon, the Doomsday Machine, a diabolical retaliatory device set to blow up the planet.
One B-52 bomber has managed to make it past Soviet defenses. Despite some technical problems with the aircraft, its pilot Major ‘King’ Kong, played wonderfully by Slim Pickens, is determined to drop his nuclear payload. Here is the scene from the movie:
What’s interesting is that the scene as shot is considerably different from the scene as written:
70 INT. B-90 — LT. ZOGG
He anxiously flips switches, bangs panels with the palm of his
hand, curses to himself, and flips more switches. Various insert
cuts to important-looking switches and warning lights.
LT. ZOGG
King?
70a MS — PILOT — MAJOR KONG
Rocking in his seat and emitting soft groans.
MAJOR KONG
Who’s that?
LT. ZOGG
It’s me — Lothar. Are you okay?
MAJOR KONG
I’m okay. What’s up?
LT. ZOGG
Well, I hate to say this, but I think the
bomb bay doors are stuck.
MAJOR KONG
Are you sure?
LT. ZOGG
Well, I can’t get out and look, King. But
I don’t get a green light.
MAJOR KONG
Maybe the warning system’s out.
LT. ZOGG
But I get a red light.
MAJOR KONG
Have you tried the emergency system?
LT. ZOGG
I tried everything. Something must have gotten
bent or twisted from the pounding we took.
70b CU — PILOT
He stares out over the nose of the plane for several seconds. A
portentous look of valour seems to overcome the pain.
MAJOR KONG
Lothar, can you arm the bombs for impact?
LT. ZOGG
But I TOLD YOU, I don’t think we can get the
bomb bay doors open.
MAJOR KONG
I asked you a question, Lothar!
LT. ZOGG
But how are we going to drop the bombs if
the doors won’t — -
(the penny drops)
Hey, King….you’re not thinking of — -
You don’t mean you’d — — ???
70c CUTS TO OTHER CREW MEMBERS AS THEY REALIZE THE PLAN
MAJOR KONG
(firmly)
There’s no other way, Lothar. Can you
re-arm the bombs for impact?
LT. ZOGG
(stunned silence)
Let me check.
MAJOR KONG
There’s no other way, boys. I’m going to
have to take her in…the hard way.
70d CUTS TO CREW — HORRIFIED, SWEATING, TREMBLING
LT. QUIFFER
Say, King. If there was any way I could
help, I wouldn’t think of asking, but would
you mind if I bailed out.
MAJOR KONG is clearly hurt by this lack of comradeship.
MAJOR KONG
(shrugs)
No, I wouldn’t mind, Lieutenant Quiffer.
70e CUTS TO FRIGHTENED AND CONFUSED CREW
LT. ZOGG
(uncertainly)
I think it’s okay, King. They should go
off on impact.
MAJOR KONG
(audaciously)
Would it matter if they hit at a flat angle?
I mean, do you think the deuterium mass might
separate from the atomic trigger?
LT. ZOGG
(faintly)
Well, it would probably help if you took it
…sort of…straight down.
MAJOR KONG
Roger.
The other crew members unhappily watch the D.S.O., LT.
QUIFFER, prepare to bail out. His leg seems to have unstiffened.
He pauses long enough to notice his buddies.
LT. QUIFFER
Look, King, maybe the other boys don’t
think it right to ask, so I’m asking for
them. Can they bail out too?
MAJOR KONG stiffens at this last shattering of camaraderie.
MAJOR KONG
(in an angry sulk)
Anyone that wants to save his neck certainly
ought to.
The other crew members hastily get ready to jump.
LT. TOEJAM
Gee, we hate to leave you like this, Major
Kong. But there isn’t anything we can really
accomplish by sticking around.
MAJOR KONG
(shrugs)
Forget it.
LT. QUIFFER
Well, listen, King. Could you take her up
to about eight hundred? That’ll help you
come in at a nice down-angle, and it’ll give
us a chance for our chutes to open.
MAJOR KONG
(shrugs)
Sure, I’ll take her up to eight hundred.
LT. QUIFFER
Could you take her up right now, King? Other-
wise we’ll get kind of close to the fireball.
MAJOR KONG
(shrugs)
Sure, I’ll take her up right now.
He pulls up the nose of the plane sharply. The men get ready.
71 FLYING SHOT — B-90 CLIMBING
As it reaches eight hundred feet, enemy radar, hitherto prevented
from tracking the plane due to its low-level tactics, suddenly
zeros in, and all kinds of flak and tracer fire open up.
LT. TOEJAM
Listen, King, old buddy. On behalf — -
MAJOR KONG
Skip it and jump, damn you! This flak’s so
close, I can smell it.
The crew bails out.
AD LIBS
(as they go)
Good luck, King!
God bless you, King!
Geronimo!
MAJOR KONG starts to fly evasive tactics through the flak.
72 MS — NEGRO BOMBARDIER LT. ZOGG — FLOPS INTO CO-PILOT’S SEAT
LT. ZOGG
(softly)
We’re on course, Major. Just fixed our
position on that river back there.
MAJOR KONG
What the hell are you doing here, Lothar?
The two men are deeply touched by this Stanley Kramer-ish
moment of truth.
LT. ZOGG
(with masculine simplicity)
I thought I’d go along for the ride.
MAJOR KONG
(John Wayne)
Now what the hell did you want to go and do
a thing like that for, Lothar?
LT. ZOGG
I thought maybe you’d like some company.
MAJOR KONG punches him in the arm.
MAJOR KONG
That sure was a hell of a stupid thing to do.
The flak rocks the plane, and the lights of the city ahead
continue to flash.
LT. ZOGG
King, would you mind if I keep me hands on
the wheel when you take her in?
MAJOR KONG
(John Wayne — all the way)
I’d be mighty proud if you did, Lothar.
LT. ZOGG
Thanks, King. I’ve always wanted to take
one of these big babies in.
MAJOR KONG
Listen, Lothar. You know that crack I
made about your…butt?
LT. ZOGG
Forget it.
MAJOR KONG
I just wanted you to know I didn’t mean
anything by it.
LT. ZOGG
Sure, King.
MAJOR KONG
Well, I just wanted you to know how I felt.
Hell, I know Air Command wouldn’t have taken
you if you weren’t okay. And don’t think I
don’t know some of our best ball-players and
entertainers are of Negro descent.
73 NIGHT — EXT. — THE B-90 DIVES INTO THE MISSILE COMPLEX
(TRICK SHOT)
There is a tremendous thermonuclear explosion caused by two 20-
megaton H-bombs.
I’ve read quite a bit about the making of Dr. Strangelove, but have never found out why this change. However change is a theme in the production of the film. From the movie’s Wikipedia entry, check this out:
Kubrick started with nothing but a vague idea to make a thriller about a nuclear accident, building on the widespread Cold War fear for survival.[21] While doing research, Kubrick gradually became aware of the subtle and unstable “balance of terror” between nuclear powers. At Kubrick’s request, Alistair Buchan (the head of the Institute for Strategic Studies), recommended the thriller novel Red Alert by Peter George.[22] Kubrick was impressed with the book, which had also been praised by game theorist and future Nobel Prize in Economics winner Thomas Schelling in an article written for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and reprinted in The Observer,[23] and immediately bought the film rights.[24]
In collaboration with George, Kubrick started writing a screenplay based on the book. While writing the screenplay, they benefited from some brief consultations with Schelling and, later, Herman Kahn.[25] In following the tone of the book, Stanley Kubrick originally intended to film the story as a serious drama. But, as he later explained during interviews, he began to see comedy inherent in the idea of mutual assured destruction as he wrote the first draft. Kubrick said:
My idea of doing it as a nightmare comedy came in the early weeks of working on the screenplay. I found that in trying to put meat on the bones and to imagine the scenes fully, one had to keep leaving out of it things which were either absurd or paradoxical, in order to keep it from being funny; and these things seemed to be close to the heart of the scenes in question.[26]
After deciding to make the film a black comedy, Kubrick brought in Terry Southern as a co-writer. The choice was influenced by reading Southern’s comic novel The Magic Christian, which Kubrick had received as a gift from Peter Sellers[6] (which, coincidentally, became a Sellers film in 1969). Sellers is also sometimes considered an uncredited co-writer, as he improvised many lines later added to the script.
The movie was originally supposed to be a “thriller,” but the very idea of “mutual assured destruction” seemed so absurd to Kubrick, the story naturally veered toward the satire it became.
In any event, the image of Maj. Kong, riding the H-bomb like a bucking bronco, down toward its eventual explosion is one of the most indelible images in cinematic history — so whatever possessed Kubrick to make the change from the script was inspired.
If you visit the Wikipedia entry, take the time to read about the original pie fight ending — another change for the better. And then this with the movie’s production designer about the pie fight, shot with 4,000 custard pies over a period of 7 days… but cut from the film:
http://cdn2.webofstories.com/siteAssets/1_0_2/embedcode/embed.html?sp=50030&sid=53563&d=139 &f=86x
[Originally posted October 9, 2009]
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